Title 9

Playing hockey and being captain of the Cypress Bay the Cypress bay Roller Hockey team there is one word and one number that I have come to hate over the years. It is Title 9. Title 9 under the school code and regulations requires every sport and club to be opened up to both boys and girls. It requires that if there is a team it must either be integrated or there must be a team for all boys or all girls.

While i see why it is important to have Title 9 it has really affected our hockey team. We were required the past few years to play a girl on our team even though she was not very capable of playing. Each year our team has tryouts and for the most part only guys show up. Then every year we are forced to cut some quality male players and replace them with a girl who is required to play a certain amount each season. Title 9 can be avoided though if no girls try out or show interest so basically that was our plan this past year. To avoid this my teacher who is also the team sponsor and I decided to create a girls team. I would be the head coach and It would be my responsibility to teach them how to play. Needless to say only a few girls showed up and they lost interest very quickly.

Overall it is important that Title 9 exists. It provides equal opportunities for both boys and girls to get involved in school athletics and allows any person to participate in an activity if they would like to.